Winning football games overshadows helping Baylor victims

In the last few weeks, more has surfaced about Baylor, which is still reeling from reports the school neglected to respond properly to sexual assault reports and in some cases discouraged victims from reporting them.

Photo: Tony Gutierrez, STF

She has been staying off Twitter and avoiding college football and news about it on television.

A 21-year-old woman who says she was raped by a football player while both were students at Baylor in 2014 has trouble hearing the nonstop Baylor noise that started in May with the Pepper Hamilton report and hasn't subsided.

She hoped the report would bring change and turn things around. It has in some areas, but it also has brought on a lot of additional hurt.

"A lot of days, it just seems like people care more about football than they do about the victims," the woman, who didn't want to be identified, told me last weekend. "That's a hard pill to swallow."

In the last few weeks, more has surfaced about Baylor, which is still reeling from reports the school neglected to respond properly to sexual assault reports and in some cases discouraged victims from reporting them.

The school said recently that former football coach Art Briles knew about a gang rape involving five of his players in 2013.

Enough about Briles

Coaches, players and fans took to social media to tweet #CAB in support of Briles, and some players claim they wore black uniforms in a game against TCU to show support for Briles.

Regents, including Drayton McLane, have asked the school for more details and transparency, which is good. McLane also hoped the information would restore Briles' honor.

Enough. At this point, people should stop worrying about Briles and his reputation.

It's time to start talking about and caring for the victims of these heinous crimes. That remains on the back burner. That has to change.

Rape survivor Brenda Tracy, who spoke to the football team earlier this season, continued to criticize Baylor for its actions and has in return received more criticism and harassment from a handful of Baylor supporters.

When she spoke to the team, she said she was pulled aside by an assistant coach who told her "nothing happened" and that there was a conspiracy against Baylor football. She told the Chronicle on Thursday the assistant was Tate Wallis, who coaches wide receivers. Tracy waited to identify him, she said, because she had told Baylor officials about the incident and wanted to give them time to take some action. To her knowledge, they never did. Meanwhile, Wallis and other assistants have continued to publicly support the former head coach.

Wallis was unavailable Thursday to comment on Tracy's allegations.

Confrontational coach

Tracy, who was assaulted by four men, including three football players, at Oregon State in 1998, has spoken at dozens of universities this season. She said the interaction with Wallis is the only time she received any negative reaction from someone associated with one of the schools.

Even now, she said she receives several messages of thanks and encouragement. But she also gets a lot of negativity online. Most of it, she said, comes from Baylor fans.

She also met several people from the school who support her and hope for change.

So has the rape victim who spoke to me last weekend.

"I think a lot of people care about making things better," she said. "But the ones who care more about football and more about winning are all over the place and louder with their message."

It has been months since Briles was fired (along with athletic director Ian McCaw and president Kenneth Starr), but the support for Briles hasn't wavered.

It has been months, and we are still waiting to see that kind of support for the victims.

Kudos to Baylor fans, employees and students who are doing their part to encourage and support victims while calling for change at the school. The school has taken steps to address all 105 of the Pepper Hamilton recommendations.

'A long way to go'

But until the university and the entire fan base care as much about these victims as they do about winning football games and clearing Briles' name, the culture at Baylor will not change.

"I still believe the school can be better and stronger, a safe place for everyone," said the woman, who transferred to the University of Houston last year. "But they have a long way to go. Right now, I don't feel like there are very many in the Baylor family who care about us at all."